A middle-aged man has sent a message to Energy Cabinet Secretary (CS) Davis Chirchir in desperation after being blocked by Kenya Power for making too many calls.
Speaking in a video shared online by Narok Senator Ledama Olekina on Thursday, February 8, the man stated that he had been trying to reach the CS for a long time.
His determination to reach the CS, he stated, would not stop until Chirchir addressed concerns of power outages in his neighborhood in Msabaha area in Kilifi.
Further, he added that that was his seventh recording, asking the CS to take action as he had an ill woman in his care, yet their area had not had any electricity for weeks.
“Please help me get this video to the Energy CS. Cabinet Secretary if you took an oath to serve the people, this is now the seventh time I am recording this, we are really suffering.
“We have a sick woman in our care who we have just brought from hospital, and we have no power. Every week in Msabaha we must have power blackout,” he lamented.
Also Read: CS Chirchir Issues Way Forward on Nationwide Blackout
Kenya Power Blocking the Man
Additionally, he complained that he had been blocked by Kenya Power for calling their hotline number too many times.
He claimed that some of the employees at the power company expected to be bribed to restore power in different areas, which he noted was disrespect to CS Chirchir.
“Let me speak the truth, they are used to getting bribed. There are people who call them to certain areas and pay them Ksh2,000 or ksh3,000. Please look into it and you will see the truth.
“The CS should know that those individuals do not care about his authority. If they respected the CS, they would not have done that,” he added.
Low Power Cost
Meanwhile, Kenyans can heave a sigh of relief after the government reduced the cost of purchasing Kenya Power Limited Company (KPLC) electricity tokens.
The new prices by the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum show that the cost of electricity for all categories of power consumers will drop Ksh.3.44 per until.
Speaking on Wednesday, February 7, Energy Principal Secretary (PS) Alex Wachira said the cost reduction was as a result of a drop in foreign exchange adjustment rates.
“Foreign exchange adjustment dropped from Ksh.6.46 per kilowatt hour to Ksh.3.22 per kilowatt hour owing to a decrease in the total foreign currency exchange payments made in January,” he said.
Also Read: Relief for Kenyans as Govt Reduces Cost of KPLC Tokens
Chirchir Addresses Nationwide Blackout
Following a nationwide blackout in December 2023, Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir explained that blackouts being witnessed in the country was a result of network overload.
According to the CS, the country had not invested in transmission networks for about 5 years and yet it continued to build the industry.
As a result, he noted that the demand for power increased causing constraints on the transmission networks available.
“Lack of investment on the network for a long time. We have continued to build industry, but we have not built a network in the last four or five years and the network is overloaded,” he noted.
